The quarrel with the Taliban was that they harbored OBL. Not with the Taliban, per se. However, after they didn't give up OBL, Bush & Co. demonized them in order to justify the invasion. Womens rights now aren't any better than they were before. In the big cities there are token women and token facilities, in the rest of the country it's business as usual for their religion.

IF the goal had been to "get" OBL and remove al-Qaeda there were other ways. Bush & Co. only threatened them, the way it's done with Iran and North Korea, "shape up or I'll kill you" sort of thing, that no one can reasonably accept.

The Taliban was amenable to negotiate, Bush & Co. didn't want to. They wanted control of Afghanistan, used OBL as an excuse.

Now, talk to Russia about invading Afghanistan. Or Britain.

Unfortunately, and this is really sad, black-and-white thinkers can ONLY SEE invasion or caving in. Do not take into account that other people have their pride, values, and abilities. And that's a tragic limitation.

The truly tragic thing is that Bush & Co. want Afghanistan in order to install a pipeline, and that pipeline can't be protected from the tribal leaders. Even prior to the Russian invasion people did not want to break down between safe havens in the back country. They would be at best robbed, at worst killed or taken hostage.

Negotiations would have gotten OBL and al-Qaeda, a carrot and a stick. The way Bush has done it has made OBL, the Taliban and al-Qaeda stronger.

Not smart.

Arf